BOOK REVIEW: The Law of Divine Compensation

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe.” Albert Einstein

Such is the opening quotation of Marianne Williamson’s The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money and Miracles. It perfectly sets the tone and tenor of this internationally acclaimed author’s latest release.

Consistently, we’re challenged to change our thinking away from fear and limitation toward faith and love, in the broadest sense of those terms. Especially when our way isn’t working anymore we’re invited to open our minds to consider something new.

The Power of Our Thoughts

“The greatest gift we give ourselves is often our willingness to change our minds. As you become who you are meant to be, what you are meant to do will fall like a path of rose petals before you.”

The Law of Divine Compensation, pages 4 and 125

Hardly is Williamson the first writer to suggest that our every thought creates our experiences.

One intriguing difference is that she chose to publish during a time of “agreed” widespread economic hardship (2012). Her assertion is not to deny our monetary problems. Rather, we’re encouraged to transcend them.

Indeed, how we think releases infinite possibilities that couldn’t have occurred had we believed in their improbability. As a consequence, enlightenment is not a process we work toward; it’s a choice available to us in any instant.

GEM #1

Transforming a Negative Sense of Self

“You can’t turn off the light, but you can put your hands in front of your eyes and then complain that the room is dark.”

The Law of Divine Compensation, page 18

“I am a complete failure. I’m too old to get another job; they’re only hiring younger people. The economy won’t be picking up for years. All the jobs are taken. The system is rigged. I was screwed by so-and-so. I’ll never get these bills paid. I’ll probably lose my house. I give up. It’s no use. It’s too late. I blew it.”

How often do our (lamenting) thoughts deflect – not attract – miracles in a similar fashion?

What if we instead activated the Law of Divine Compensation through a shift in thinking? It states, the universe is programmed to improve all things. To do so, we need to give up our past stories, though.

A helpful exercise can be to jot down the names of everyone with whom you’ve worked. Remember that every relationship is an assignment, in which people are drawn together because they represent a maximal and mutual opportunity for growth. Whether you liked one another or not is irrelevant. What’s pertinent is that you now integrate any lessons you failed to learn previously, so you no longer need to repeat them.

GEM #2

Distinguishing a Job from a Calling

“The world can give you a job, and a job can be taken away. But a true calling puts you in a career zone that cannot be taken away.”

The Law of Divine Compensation, page 120

What a great reframe! A job is an exchange of energy in which you do a material task for money. A calling is what you’d do whether you were paid or not. Your calling emerges from your deepest core. Think Steve Jobs.

Admittedly, not everyone has the talent of a computer genius, but each of us has a call to greatness. Does this mean you never have to “look for a job” as the world defines it? Of course you do! But with this new knowledge, your process could go more like this:

You program your mind to think creative, insightful and beneficial search thoughts. You’re not surrendering responsibility, just your attachment to form.

You believe the universe is like an orchard abundant with fruit. There’s more than enough to go around.

You ask for internal guidance as to whom to call, what to do, and so forth. Call it trusting your intuition, or gut.

You realize you can’t know what or where your next job should be. Open your mind and heart so that a higher consciousness can flow through you.

Before you go to a job interview, blast those you meet with love and light.

The book uses the example of Dan as someone who did exactly this. With the recession hitting hard, he wasn’t teaching enough students to make a living as a piano instructor. A job opened up in an educational institution near his home that fit his qualifications. His chances were good. But then he “made up” it would be too full of political drama based on street scuttlebutt. Once he noticed his self-sabotaging tendencies, he decided instead that the universe was presenting him a golden opportunity, even if it didn’t look like what he expected.

I’ve done the same. The results have often been nothing short of miraculous.

That’s why it’s no stretch to imagine Marianne Williamson being voted by a Newsweek poll as one of the fifty most influential baby boomers. From personal examples to global concerns, she inspires us to make humanitarian values our way-of-being. Such a possibility brings me for the situations of planet Earth to “miraculously” change.